British MP on reality TV show doesn't know she's in trouble with her own party

THE British MP suspended after leaving parliament to sneak off to Australia to star in a reality TV show does not know she is in trouble because she is already on set with a full communications blackout imposed.

The ruling Tories MP Nadine Dorries was dumped by her party yesterday and faces the prospect of being deselected before the next election after she this week joined the cast and crew of the British version of I’m a Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here.

Ms Dorries did not tell her party she was going to skip Parliament and at least two crucial budget votes in the House to take part in the show being filmed on the NSW-Queensland border. Her absence could run for a month, all the while she will continue to collect her regular $100,000 a year salary as well as an appearance fee of up to $60,000.

But she does not know she has lost her job and the furore she has sparked because participants on the reality show are barred from any communications with the outside world while they take on challenges and trials in the staged Aussie “jungle”.

That reality check is only likely after she gets voted off the show which uses public phone ins. Only then will she see the missed calls from her political leaders demanding she immediately return to the UK to face the Conservative Chief Whip Sir George Young and her own local party team.

The first most, including her party and Prime Minister David Cameron, knew of the 55-year-old’s inclusion in the show was when she bragged about her starring role with other B-grade celebrities. It caused a storm in her electorate with constituents declaring she should be looking after their interests from Westminster not Australia.

But as she entered the show set she did predict her appearance was likely to cause a stir.

“I know there will be a backlash that I am going on this show, but I would like to point out that I have never before taken a week away in Parliamentary time whereas a lot of other MPs have,” she said.

But she added some in her party would no doubt be relieved because she was a thorn in Mr Cameron’s side.

"A lot of people don't vote and if they can see I am a normal mother who comes from a poor background and who didn't go to a posh school, they may think they can be a politician too. Maybe they will trust us more," said the former nurse who has represented her constituency since entering Parliament in 2005. Many predict she would defect from her party when she exits the jungle and reads about the demise of her party political career and would likely join the independents.